Collapse Under The Empire has firmly established itself in the post-rock scene over the last four years, acquiring an international name in the process. The Hamburg, Germany duo, comprised of Chris Burda and Martin Grimm, has developed and honed its own electronic post-rock sound over four albums and a series of EPs since they first started playing together in 2008. Their forthcoming release, Sacrifice & Isolation, will wrap up a double concept work, beginning with 2011's Shoulders & Giants. The band recently released their first single, "Stairs To The Redemption," with an accompanying video directed by London-based Dan Tassell.

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Sacrifice & Isolation explores the themes of freedom, isolation and death. The finale to the band's two-part series is their darkest and most experimental album to date, full of dramatic and unsettling sounds. The first half of the album heavily reflects the band's electronic leanings, while the latter half grows more organic with each passing track, the melancholic synth pads and electro beats clearing a path for more apocalyptic guitar tones and live drums.

The video for "Stairs To The Redemption" takes a surreal journey through a mysterious and ephemeral future landscape cultivated within the hollow shell of London's Battersea Power Station. Set in a future strangled by rampant homogeneity, the power station remains an unchanged monument to an industrial past, at least that’s how it appears. Inside the building's crumbling brick walls an experimental world has taken hold, under the watchful gaze of The Scientist who has brought the building to life. This film is part of a wider exploration into how the building's character could be preserved through a parasitic architecture that is cultivated, grown and brought to life using living technologies.

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Lesley Daunt is a professional journalist with a background in music. She is a regular contributor for The Huffington Post as well as a variety of music publications. She also has a music column on Examiner.com. She grew up listening to everything from Cajun Zydeco to good old fashioned rock & roll. You can follow Lesley on Twitter @theLesleyDaunt.